Rain Expected To Prevent Forest Fire From Growing

ELY, Minn. (AP) — A half-inch of rain over the next couple days is expected to keep a large forest fire from spreading in northeastern Minnesota.

More than 780 firefighters are working the blaze in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

Fire information officer Doug Anderson says one firefighter suffered an injury Monday when a tree, knocked down by a bulldozer, hit his leg. Anderson says the firefighter was taken to a hospital for treatment.

Firefighters Tuesday began to move into areas of the fire in the northeast and southwest which were previously unstaffed. Ten more crews, some of them replacements, are scheduled to arrive Wednesday.

Authorities say the fire, which has spread to 147 square miles, is 30 percent contained. With rain Tuesday and Wednesday, the fire wasn’t expected to gain much ground.

One Comment

Forestry would do well to prevent these tremendous losses if trees were cut down systematically. Fires would become less fueled to a point where they create their own turbulence with time, and imagine the gain to industry. These trees could keep us in toilet paper for years to come, and at a price that isn’t like an investment in gold for an item that will be deposited in our sewer system, as one example.

Straightline winds and tornados would be less damaging if forests were thinned out periodically. Venting would allow for these natural forces to find escape, rather than to chop the tops off of every tree in it’s path.

Nature does us one better, but we have the intelligence to work around it’s greater effort. Where is our government? Simple planning like this could contribute to so much productivity in worthwhile jobs and meet personal basic need, if a little thought and direction is applied.

Fires and wind are not avoidable, but the damage they do can be greatly reduced. Preservation begins with an effort.